Sibling Bonding Night
by CeliaLauna
Summary: It was a calm night and Alec, Jace and Izzy were laying on the bed, talking. The conversation turned to Alec and his relationship with Magnus. Jace and Izzy hadn't seen Alec this happy in years, and while they enjoy teasing him relentlessly, they're mostly just happy to see how in love Alec is, and so they happily hear him talk about Magnus. Even though it takes some encouragement.


**Summary:** It was a rare night of calmness at the Institute. In all honesty, Alec found it suspicious, but he didn't say anything as they all could use some quiet time. That night, they had chatted away during patrol. Their animated conversations had continued in the ops center, and after one too many glares, they'd retreated to Isabelle's bedroom. At one point all three of them had changed from their hunting gear into pajamas. They currently were laying on the bed, their heads all together in the center of the bed, all spread out on their backs, looking at the ceiling.

The conversation turned to Alec and his relationship with Magnus. Jace and Izzy hadn't seen Alec this happy in years, and while they enjoy teasing him relentlessly, they're mostly just happy to see how in love Alec is, and so they happily hear him talk about Magnus. Even though it takes some encouragement.

[…]

This is a really silly friendship/siblings fic where Alec talks about Magnus, including some of their issues, while Jace and Izzy tease him and are supportive. Nothing else happens. Fluffy friendship fic. That's it.

 **A/N:** Nothing much happens in this fic. For real. Just siblings being cute. Written with everything that has aired up till now in mind (Season 3A of Shadowhunters) but set in a random distant future where everything is okay again. Just go with it. I need backstory but no drama. Rating T because sex gets mentioned.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

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It was a rare night of calmness at the Institute. In all honesty, Alec found it suspicious, but he didn't say anything about it, too afraid to jinx it. They all could use some quiet time. Alec had spent the afternoon training with Jace and Isabelle. All three of them together, like they used to when they were kids. It had been a while since it had been just the three of them and they all were reminded of how much fun it could be.

After that they'd gone on patrol, which was uneventful, and they had chatted away. Their animated conversations had continued in the ops center, and after one too many glares, they'd retreated to Isabelle's bedroom. At one point she'd taken her make-up off and tied her hair together, and all three of them had changed from their hunting gear into pajamas – which meant sweats for the guys and shorts and a tank top for Isabelle. They currently were laying on the bed, their heads all together in the center of the bed, all spread out on their backs, looking at the ceiling. Isabelle was rambling on about how Simon had made such a fool of himself a few days ago, though her tone was affectionately.

Alec felt his phone buzz in his pocket and reached for it. Magnus had responded to his earlier text about how he wouldn't be coming over tonight as he was having family time with his siblings. He normally would bail on Jace and Isabelle and head over to his boyfriend, but the entire day had felt so great and nostalgic, he didn't want it to end. Magnus' text said he understood, that Alec should enjoy the family time, and that he'd talk to him tomorrow. Alec wished him goodnight and put his phone back in his pocket.

"So," Isabelle said, drawing out the word. "What did Magnus have to say?"

"Yeah," Jace continued the teasing. "Are you ditching us for your boyfriend? Aren't we good enough anymore?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "He just said goodnight," he said, trying to shut up his siblings.

In all honestly, Alec was feeling a bit self-conscious and uncomfortable. Though they've been doing this – laying on the bed together, talking about literally anything and everything – for over a decade, in all that time, any and all teasing about boyfriends and girlfriends or crushes had been about Isabelle or Jace, and usually it had been those two making all the comments, Alec only slightly contributing. The attention for that good-natured teasing had never been directing towards him, and all of a sudden he felt at a loss.

"You are such a sap," Jace said.

Alec could sense his brother grinning, so he lifted his arm above his head and lightly punched him in the arm – the angle nor his intention allowing him to put much force behind it. "Like you and Clary are any better," he retorted.

"No, no, no," Isabelle tutted as she turned onto her stomach, balancing on her elbows. "None of that, we already talked about Jace and Clary tonight, and you both know my love life is currently non-existent. Now we get to talk about you, big brother!"

Alec groaned and threw an arm over his face. This had been the one thing he'd wanted to avoid. Any information about him and Magnus he felt comfortable sharing, his siblings already knew. These midnight conversations always turned way intimate and involved a lot of over-sharing (he's pretty sure other siblings don't share stories about their first time) and Alec had never been in this position before.

"Why," he whined. He knew there was no escaping it, but that didn't mean he had to go down this emotional pit of over-sharing willingly. He felt like he was Max's age again.

"Come on, Alec," Jace said. "You know everything about us. You and Magnus have been together for months, we've been patient, and still you don't tell us shit. The only reason I know you're no longer a virgin is because I could feel you were ridiculously happy through our _parabatai_ bond, and you legit wouldn't stop smiling all day."

"And your blush when I confronted you the day after you asked for my advice spoke volumes, but didn't get you to spill the deeds!" Isabelle contributed, making Alec want to sink through a hole in the floor.

Jace gasped, ignoring Alec's obvious discomfort. "You went to Izzy for advice? And not to me? What the fuck, man!" He also turned onto his stomach, so both his siblings could stare at Alec's ridiculous blush spreading over his face, barely hidden by his arm. "Wait, what kind of advice did you need? Because if it was about where to put it –"

Alec scrambled up, interrupting Jace. "No, stop, shut up. I'll tell you what you wanna know. Can we just _please_ stop talking about sex?"

As Alec sat back against the headboard, hugging a pillow close and glaring at his siblings, Jace and Isabelle were sporting matching grins. "I didn't think you were such a prude, Alec," Jace said teasingly. "You never get so squirmy when it's about either of us having sex."

Alec rolled his eyes at that. "That's just because the two of you have no shame whatsoever. I'm getting sick of constantly walking in on you."

"Why?" Isabelle asked. "Because there's always boobs involved?" Alec groaned and slid down the headboard, pulling the pillow over his face. Why was this his life? In the meantime, his sister continued teasing him in her fake innocent tone. "I mean, I know it's not a turn-on for you, but it's not like they're hideous. My breast are epic. Jace, what do you think?"

"I'm not commenting on your chest, Iz, that's just weird." Sometimes Alec had to remind himself that they, despite their oversharing and their level of comfort about their bodies and seeing each other in various stages of undressed, they still were raised as siblings and some things were just off limit. He was glad Jace remembered this as well, because the last thing he wanted to hear was his _parabatai_ talking about his younger sister's body. "But I do think boobs are pretty dope, yeah."

"Whatever, that's not the point," she responded. She shifted around so she was laying next to Alec, also on her back, with her head resting on his shoulder. "The point is that you barely share anything, Alec. And I don't just mean about sex, I mean in general."

Jace nodded in agreement. "We know you're happy with him. But you don't talk about him much."

Alec sighed, tossing the pillow aside. He knew perfectly well why he kept quiet about the details of his relationship, even though he wasn't hiding. "Because we're often in the ops center, where people are constantly listening in. I'm supposed to be the head of the Institute, I'm supposed to be a leader, and that's already difficult enough when people are judging me for dating a male warlock. On top of that, it's _Magnus Bane_ , the High Warlock of Brooklyn, who is openly and unapologetically bisexual, is of Asian descent, notorious for sleeping around, and flounces around in high fashion and make-up." He huffed. "People are judging him and us enough as it is, I don't need them knowing all the lovey-dovey private details about us."

It was silent for a moment, his siblings taking in his words. Alec felt a nudge against his leg and looked down to where Jace was still lying on his stomach, his elbow pressed against Alec's thigh. "That doesn't mean you can't tell us, though," Jace said softly. Isabelle was nodding.

Alec smiled softly, despite himself. He truly had amazing siblings. "Thanks," he said.

"So, tell us something!" Isabelle said excitedly. "Like where was your first date?"

"First _official_ date," Jace added, grinning. "Kissing him on your wedding day and blowing the whole thing of doesn't count."

Alec chuckled. He still had difficulties believing he did that, sometimes. "Our first date was at The Hunter's Moon," he said. "We played pool, and he had me try all different kinds of drinks."

When he didn't volunteer any more information, Isabelle punched him lightly in the arm. "Come on, you gotta give us more than that."

"Fine," Alec said, rolling his eyes, though there was no heat behind it. "We walked back to his apartment and talked a bunch while we were back." He scrunched his nose, frowning as he thought back of that evening. "We actually kinda had an argument, but we also resolved it that same night. So."

"First fight on the first date," Jace said, shaking his head, eyes sparkling with amusement. "I mean, we know you had a lot of catching up to do, but there's no reason for going _that_ fast."

Isabelle laughed as Alec pushed Jace away with his knee. Jace laughed it off as well, and moved to sit up cross legged in front of the two Lightwoods. "So what was the argument about?" he asked.

Alec bit his lip, thinking about how to phrase this best without spilling everything there was to tell about Magnus' past. "He realized that I'd never had dated anyone. Or ever been on a date. While he is… beyond experienced." Alec shrugged, trying to pass it of as if it was no big deal. "Things got awkward. We fixed it."

"Did it bother him?" Isabelle asked carefully. At Alec's confused glance, she elaborated. "That you had no experience."

Alec shook his head. "No. He got extra careful, but I called him out on not wanting to be treated differently. And he listened. So no."

Jace pressed his lips together, opening his mouth a few times before settling on the exact words he wanted to say. "Do you mind that he has more experience?"

Alec snorted at that. "I was a twenty four year old virgin, _everyone_ had more experience than me."

Jace shook his head. "No, I mean. Did you mind that he… that he's known for sleeping around?"

Alec frowned for a second before schooling his face back to neutral. That question made clear to Alec why Jace was so hesitant. While Isabelle wasn't currently seeing anyone – in any sense of the word – and Jace was seeing Clary, both his siblings had slept around and dated plenty before. Jace was scared that Alec thought less of him because of it, and Alec had to shut that down. Especially since he knew Isabelle sometimes had the same insecurities which only were driven home harder by their mother.

Rolling his eyes exaggeratedly, more for his siblings benefit than his own, and responded. "Of course not. The two of you date plenty and have casual sex all the time. That doesn't mean you can't be in a committed relationship. You can still love, it doesn't make your feelings or any act of it less valuable."

Alec saw Jace nodding solemnly and he could feel Isabelle let out a deep sigh. He knew this was one of the things where they all really differed, but he never thought his siblings would be so scared of his opinion or reaction. He wrapped his arm around Isabelle's shoulder and held her tight, and indicated with his head that Jace had to come up and join the cuddle pile. He did so, laying on the other side of Alec with his arm reaching over Alec to hold Isabelle's hand.

"No," Alec continued, wanting to make clear why it had been an argument and how it hadn't been about the seventeen thousand memories exactly. Though it hadn't helped. "It was more about how it proved how different we are. Not just how we've got different levels of, you know, sexual experience," and by the Angel did Alec hate that it made him blush. "But also regarding the emotional aspect." Alec's mind brought the image of that wooden box back up for a split second, enough to make him grimace a bit.

"You mean like, serious relationships?" Isabelle asked. Alec sighed as he nodded.

"Like he had with Camille?" Jace asked carefully.

Alec grimaced. "Yeah, but she's not a good example. Like, they broke up. She went full on evil and Magnus recognized that and turned her in, even though he still hangs onto the good memories. He knows they're just that, _memories._ " Alec shook his head. "But even then. She's also a Downwolder, she's immortal. It's…"

Alec sighed. Jace let his hand slip from Isabelle's grip and rested it on Alec's forearm, squeezing it gently as Isabelle started rubbing up and down his side in a gesture of comfort. "You don't have to continue," Jace said. "We didn't mean to make you feel this down."

Alec shook his head. "It's fine. I still somewhat struggle with it, so I guess talking about it is a good thing." He took a deep breath and continued his explanation. "My issue wasn't even really about his immortality or previous lovers – though that definitely didn't help in that moment. It's more about my mortality. The fact that, one day, I'll grow old, I'll become a burden, I'll die. And Magnus will be left with nothing but memories."

Isabelle pondered over that for only a second before saying: "But Magnus is very aware of that, he's gone through that before, right? And he still wants to be with you." Alec nodded in confirmation. "So you shouldn't let that stop you."

Jace nodded as well, agreeing with Isabelle. "I get that it's not something most couples go through, but you both want to make it work. If anyone can work it out, it's the two of you."

Alec smiled shyly, hugging the pillow closer to his chest. "Thanks guys. And you're right. In the end we want to be together more than we want to let or different pasts define us. So yeah…" Alec trailed of and sighed, letting the mixed emotions wash over him. "Okay, if you want me to keep talking, something _much_ lighter," Alec demanded.

Both his siblings laughed. Someone made the first move to sit up against the headboard again, and they all ended up in that way, Alec still in the middle, Isabelle with her head resting partially on his shoulder and partially against the headboard, her legs tucked underneath her, and Jace sitting sideways, looking at them both. "Okay," Isabelle said, her tone just as deciding as Alec's was earlier. "So how much better are Magnus' biceps than Jace's?"

Alec grinned, always up for egging on Jace. "A lot!"

"Hey!" Jace yelled undignified. "My guns are the best!" He sat up and started flexing to prove so, but he had trouble hiding his grin, showing that he didn't mind the teasing.

Alec pushed him, making Jace fall over slightly. He settled by just laying down on his stomach again. They all were laughing.

"You got nothing on his abs, though," Alec said teasingly.

"So that's your favorite thing about him?" Isabelle asked teasingly. "His abs? I mean, I've seen you drool when he is performing magic, and I agree, that _is_ hot. So those abs must be out of this world."

"You have _no_ idea," Alec said, exaggerating a groan and a smirk. Jace threw a pillow in his face, but he was grinning and clambered a bit more up the bed to sit back next to his siblings. Alec smiled, letting the happiness wash over him. It was silent for a moment, and Alec figured they were still thinking about his earlier emotional over-sharing. A few minutes passed before Jace whispered out another question. "What _is_ your favorite thing about him?"

Alec didn't have to think about that answer. "His eyes," he said, his voice also low. All of a sudden, it felt wrong to disturb the silence with laughter and yelling.

Isabelle opened her mouth to say something, but Alec just continued talking. "I know that sounds superficial, but it's not. His eyes are just so expressive, even with the glamor. He may act like he doesn't care about things, but I can see it in his eyes when he's lying. I can see when he cares and just how much. I can see it in his eyes when he's about to say that he loves me even before he takes a breath to start talking. And he's so self-conscious about his warlock mark, but his cat eyes are just beautiful, so golden and open and –" Alec cut himself off, realizing he'd been babbling. "Yeah," he added, scratching the back of his head, trying to hide his blush.

Isabelle giggled and Jace was grinning. "I'm happy for you," she said.

Jace nodded. "I don't remember when you were this happen. I didn't realize it before, but it must've been years since I saw you this carefree."

Alec shrugged, smiling, willing his blush to go away. "I love him," is all he said.

"We know," Isabelle said, Jace nodding against him. "Alec, can I ask you something? Something serious?"

Alec turned to his sister, frowning. "Of course. What is it, Iz?"

She pressed her lips together, milling over what she wants to say. "Do you think that, with Magnus, you can have a future? I mean, a future like you've always wanted?"

Alec sighed, thinking her words over. "You know, I gave up on imagining my future when I fully realized I was gay and never would want to be with a woman," he said, looking down at his hands which were picking on the pillow he was still holding. "It's why I was okay with our parents pushing me to be the Head of the Institute, you know? I thought that achievements in the work field were the only ones I would ever have. So I just worked hard."

"And now?" Jace asked.

"Now…" Alec sighed, sitting up, crossing his legs and staring at the edge of the bed in front of him. He could feel his siblings sitting up as well, carefully studying his face. "I never thought I would be able to fall in love. But I did. So that's already more of a future than I thought I could have. I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can, and I try not to think about the future, for obvious reasons." Alec hoped that they understood he meant the subject of mortality they had discussed earlier. "And I know what you mean, Izzy," he looked at her before she could interrupt him. "You're talking about marriage, starting a family. But I don't know. I haven't given it much thought. Not in a long time. I already have more than I ever dared to imagine." He shrugged, self-conscious. "I just wanna enjoy this happiness."

"You always wanted a family though," Jace whispered as Isabelle nodded. "You've always talked about wanting children. Even after you must've realized you were gay." Alec turned to his brother and furrowed his eyebrows. Jace shrugged, looking a bit self-conscious. "I noticed how you stopped talking about wanting to get married whenever it could be brought up. You gave no indication of wanting to find a wife, or husband, you didn't use any pronouns at all. But every once in a while, usually when Max or some new young recruits had been around for a few days, you would talk about hypothetical future kids."

Alec blinked. He was stunned, he hadn't realized this about himself. "Really?"

Jace nodded. "Usually silly stuff, but phrases like ' _If my kids later pull a stunt like that,'_ and so on weren't completely out of the ordinary."

Alec leaned back against the headboard, still looking at Jace, taking it all in. "Huh," he muttered. "I didn't realize."

"You can have that future now," Isabelle spoke up, softly. "Don't you want it?"

Alec shrugged. "I hadn't thought about much. I mean, the Clave already is against same-sex marriage and relationships between Shadowhunters and Downwolders as it is. I'm pretty sure legally it's not even allowed. And on top of that, we're not just anyone. I'm the Head of the Institute, I'm the eldest Lightwood. Our parents might have changed their mind, but the Clave wants me to continue the lineage. And Magnus is one of the most powerful warlocks out there, he's so unapologetic, and he just got his status as High Warlock of Brooklyn back. People already despise us enough as it is. The Clave would never let us get married, forget about adopting a child."

"Is adoption really necessary?" Jace asked, a small smile playing on his lips. "I mean, you know I'm all for that, Maryse and Robert taking me in with the two of you literally saved my life. But if it's the Clave stopping you, can't you just ask Magnus to, I don't know, create a baby in a cauldron?"

Alec gave his brother his best death glare. Jace just laughed. But at the same time, Alec couldn't help but wonder, the idea of a family now planted in his mind. If it weren't for the Clave and their old, judgmental laws, he probably would dare to dream a bit more about a wedding. And he also couldn't help but think of how full of adoration Magnus would look whenever Catarina brought little Madzie over. He knew how Magnus always had hated that he couldn't have children of his own in any kind of way, which is why he loved his position as High Warlock so much, as well as the reason behind his care and help for any and all Downwolders.

"I don't know," Alec said, breaking the silence. "Maybe someday. A family does sound nice."

Both Jace and Isabelle hummed in agreement. They all stayed quiet after that, slowly sliding down the bed and slipping into sleep. They were all cuddled together on top of the blankets, pillows spread around them, dreaming of their own futures with their loved ones and happiness. The three siblings were surrounding each other with love and safety.

The next day, their youngest sibling, Max, arrived at the New York Institute, back from his visit to their father in L.A., and wandered into his sister's bedroom at six in the morning to find his older siblings cuddled together. And if he snapped a picture and send it to Magnus? The High Warlock would never betray young Max's trust and would treasure that adorable photograph for the rest of his days.

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 **A/N:** Hope you liked it, thank you for reading!


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